In this episode, I sat down with Matthew Slater, a complementary currency architect and the founder of Community Forge, a non-profit organization that creates tools for building complementary currency communities. Community Forge works with over 400 communities around the world.

Now you may be asking yourself, “What is complementary currency?” Complementary currency is an idea that has been around for a long time, long before Bitcoin even. It’s the idea that a community can create their own medium of exchange and facilitate local trade without having to rely on the national currency. It keeps economic activity local and provides some lubrication when the broader economy begins to slow down. There are many successful examples around the world and Matthew and I discuss some of them and what makes them work.

Many of the ideas we discuss in this interview are explored in greater detail in the Money & Society MOOC. (Massive Open Online Course), authored by Matthew Slater and Dr. Jem Bendell.

Whereas most courses on money are intended for people with an economics background or maybe for people who want to become a banker, this course is for people who are interested in understanding money from a social innovation perspective – it prepares the ground for answering how to create a better future by reshaping money, currency & the society within which these things function.